Love Fruit Orchard (Yuanli Township Farmers' Association) Introduction
In Europe, tomatoes are commonly known as LOVE APPLE, because the mature tomato flowers bloom in pairs, connected together, resembling a couple, hence the title of "love fruit." The greenhouse here mainly focuses on cultivating love fruits, so it is named "Love Fruit Orchard," hoping that this romantic name will bring some romantic atmosphere and memories to visitors while promoting the orchard. The type of greenhouse used in Love Fruit Orchard was specially selected from many greenhouses, considering the seasonal changes in Taiwan. In summer, general greenhouses tend to accumulate heat, and high temperatures can cause difficulties in fruiting for crops, especially for tomatoes. Therefore, when selecting the greenhouse design, it was necessary to seek a structure that allows cooling and ventilation; hence, a retractable roof structure was chosen. The roof is designed in a way that the entire plastic cover can be rolled up under the central pavilion, leaving only a fine mesh when the roof is rolled up, preventing heat from accumulating indoors. As a result, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors is maintained at around two degrees. Additionally, exhaust fans are installed, ensuring that if the internal heat circulation is poor, the temperature can be quickly controlled by the action of the exhaust fans. At the beginning of the Love Fruit Orchard's design, it was the first time implementing greenhouse cultivation, and there were hopes for this environment to achieve organic cultivation ideals. However, it was found that although the greenhouse environment can isolate many pests, it does not prevent the occurrence of toxin diseases, leading to significant early cultivation losses. Fortunately, our instructor Zheng Nianjun has put in a lot of effort in this area, constantly visiting and learning greenhouse planting techniques to strengthen the cultivation experience in Love Fruit Orchard. I still remember the first year of running the orchard was very difficult. The techniques were not mature, colleagues did not recognize the efforts, and there were criticisms at the representative meetings about establishing this unprofitable venture, which was truly adding insult to injury. Fortunately, until today, Love Fruit Orchard has become profitable, enough to cover the operation and management of the orchard, and after years of hard work, there are finally some achievements. Currently, the marketing of Love Fruit Orchard's products, in addition to tourism fruit-picking, has also collaborated with several organic health stores, supplying organic products to specialty stores in Taichung and nearby areas, as no pesticides are used during the fruit-picking period. Furthermore, the romantic name "Love Fruit Orchard" and the refreshing fruit-picking experience have already made it one of the most well-known leisure agriculture representatives in central Taiwan, ideal for group outings and family activities with three generations together. The greenhouse cultivation and fruit-picking experience at Love Fruit Orchard have also become the best place for agricultural experience outdoor education for many kindergartens and elementary schools. Everyone is welcome to come and experience it firsthand!
